It is seems that most of the companies had learned the importance of giving customers not only just a product but also a satisfactory purchase process. My classmate Lauren Kullar recently shared her perception of Aritzia’s good customer service. In her post, Aritzia’s Consumer Base Buys Into More Than Just Pretty Clothes, she describes some of the techniques used by the company to boost their sales such as friendly sales associates and private stalls with no mirrors.

I agree with the fact that this strategy helps companies like Aritzia to create value added and therefore sell their products at a higher price, but it is also true that it can be used to differentiate from the competitors when the demand is elastic. Walmart, for example, competes in an industry where prices cannot be moved down easily. Although they clearly follow a cost strategy, they found other way to distinguish themselves by training their staff to offer a relentless customer service. This resulted in an increased degree of customer loyalty to the Walmart brand.

Clearly, the treat that customers receive from the company is also part of the product itself. Companies know that unsatisfied customers will most likely never purchase their products again. No matter how good is an item, a bad service can ruin the whole charm. Expressing an overwhelming gratitude and willingness to help, though, can sometimes be very obnoxious and may result in an undesired outcome.

Blogger Drew McLellan has recently shared his discontent with his cleaning company. According to his post, Don’t add frill until your core is rock solidstates , although the company puts so much effort in little useless details, it does not do things right. To be honest, I am not surprised by the existence of companies that seem to be obsessed to offer products or services that create value added to their customers and forget about the quality of them. In fact, I also observed such a trend in the extra hot sauce industry.

Notwithstanding chilli sauce contains pepper, vegetables, water, salt and xanthan gum there exist a large number of small producers that compete among each others to gain hot sauce consumers that are fed up with the commercial and tasteless Tabasco sauce. Here is where product differentiation comes in. Most of the producers use different chilies such as bhut jolokia, jalapeño, habanero or chipotle but some of them also make use of extravagant marketing techniques. For example, Crazy Jerry’s produces the “brain damage” sauce that comes with a brain shaped bottle cap. Also, Rasta Fire sauce maker introduced the “ass reaper” sauce that has a plastic skull in a dark cape on top of the bottle. I wonder if all this weird names and bottle thrills would actually make a better product.

Fortunately, not all the companies are like McLellan’s cleaning company, Crazy Jerry’s or Rasta Fire. Pagani is a car manufacturer that produces high end super cars. Their best seller is a one million dollar car that has no radio or CD player, Bluetooth, air conditioning or airbags. They believe that the experience of driving should be based on three main pillars; the driver, the road, and the machine. For this reason Pagani got rid of all the unnecessary thrills that could distort this practice. While this is an extreme example, it proves how crucial is to develop a product that satisfies the needs of the customers without adding fancy paraphernalia to try to make them look better products.

There’s no doubt the way the companies are doing their marketing campaigns is changing at a fast pace. In the past decade we have seen how some companies boost their sales by selling products that were carefully orchestrated combinations of cutting edge technology and design. Other marketing strategies have also proven that success is not all about product development. Where the product is seen or who consumes it also matters. Those who are familiar with the ever famous TV show Seinfeld will remember the episode where George eats a Snickers chocolate bar with a knife and fork. Also, looking back to some of the classic movies, Back To the Future for example, it will not be surprising to find out that Marty McFly wears Nike sneakers and drinks Pepsi.

Recently firms had been using the social networks to pinpoint the customer´s needs and preferences. Also most of the high-end clothing brands promote their products through superstars. On the other extreme there is Arbercrombie and Fitch for example, which paid Jersey Shore cast not to wear their items because they believe that it would hurt their image otherwise. The online magazine http://fashionbombdaily.com/ gives a glimpse of the effort the clothing brands are taking to expand their market share, especially among young consumers.

Long ago are the times when doctors and physicians told the masses their preferred cigarettes brand or why were better than others. Though this month Mr. Peter Morici – Phd in Economics -appeared on a commercial for Kyocera professional printers stating how great they are.  Certainly some things always remain the same.